A former governor of Anambra State and Presidential aspirant on the platform of the People Democratic Party, PDP, Mr Peter Obi, urged Nigerians not to repeat the mistake they made during the 2015 and 2019 general elections by voting an incompetent leader in 2023.
Speaking in Lagos during a consultation visit to PDP Stakeholders in Lagos, Obi said that the country is going through a very difficult time that must continue otherwise the whole country will pay for it.
He said: “We all have a responsibility to ensure that we don’t make a mistake in 2023 by voting for incompetence.
“This country is going through a very difficult time and we must not allow it to continue otherwise all of us we pay for the consequences. We must ensure that the candidate with capacity, competency and commitment to change the trajectory of Nigeria is elected in the primary as the candidate of the party.”
Obi said that his past record in Anambra State speaks for him on how he will manage the affairs of the country properly.
He said: “People can compare my past with other candidates. Interrogate people’s past and ask questions about where some aspirants were in the past and how they arrived at their present. Some people have told different stories in the past that they didn’t fulfill. Now is the time to invest in credible a candidate like me.”
While promising to address both the natural and defensive security, he said: “Firstly, you have to ensure people have a means of livelihood. When people’s means of surviving is not guaranteed, they are tools for anything. The more you lift people out of poverty, the more you reduce criminality, banditry among others.”
In his response, former Deputy National Chairman of PDP, Olabode George said that PDP as a party has the obligation to ensuring that the Presidential ticket is zoned to the south, warning that “anything short of that will be chaotic.”
He said: “From 1999, it is the tradition and culture of our great party to announce where the presidency will be zone to, but to keep quiet now will send a wrong signal to electorate. Remember when APC came, they said they don’t believe in zoning but they have done their zoning now. If we fail to do so, it will become a national campaign issue.
“Zoning is a gift from the founding fathers of this country to our party and this nation, now is going round, for us to be quiet means there is something that is not right. We are noted for that culture and we must sustain it.”
He said that Peter Obi has proven on several occasions to be a trusted, responsibly and respectable person with full of capacity to run the affairs of this country effectively.
George said: “The APC told us they will fight corruption and insecurity but that still remains a challenge in the country. Security is the number one priority of any government so if you cannot guarantee that, then what are you doing in government?”
